Spool holder or the like



Oct. 9, 1934. E. F. RAWLINGS SPOOL HOLDER OR THE LIKE Filed May 18, 1931 Patented Get. 9, 1934 Y urr res SPOOL HOLDER OR THE LIKE Ethel F. Rawlings, Watertown, Mass.

Application May 18, 1931, Serial No. 538,135

4 Claims. (Cl. 242-137) This invention relates to article holders and Figs. and 6 are partial longitudinal sections particularly to a holder for such familiar articles on the lines 55 and 66, respectively, of Fig. 3. of every-day use as spools or bobbins of thread. I have indicated at l a half-round shell or For the purposes of this application I shall 'dis-- casing member, which is of any suitable mate- 5 Icuss my invention in its adaptation to the holdrial, as metal, and is interiorly lined as at 2 with 69 ing in convenient and orderly assembly of a plufelt or other tensioning material. The ends of rality of spools of thread. It is to be understood, the shell 1 are preferably but not necessarily however, that this treatment is purely illustraclosed by tight-fitting top and bottom caps 3 and tive and in no way limiting and that the princi- 4, respectively.

lples of my invention applyto the holding of any Pivoted at 5 to the inner face of one of said 65 3 of a large variety of articles of which thread caps, here shown as the bottom cap 4, is a spinspools and bobbins are sufficienty typical. dle 6 on which the spools of thread S are re- One object of my invention is to provide an movably assembled by being slid onto said spinarticle holder of this general class which is at dle endwise from above, the usual holes in said once both simple and inexpensive of construction spools being penetrated by the spindle.

and convenient of use. The pivotal connection 5 may be made in any Another object is to provide a compact and consuitable manner, as by forming the lower end veniently operable holder which will maintain of the spindle with a reduced tongue 7 which is the spools or bobbins in orderly assembly and in received between and pivoted at 5 to a pair of an arrangement which lends itself peculiarly to spaced upturned ears 8 rising from the bottom the most advantageous display of the articles and cap 4.

to their convenient withdrawal as needed, all in If desired, said ears may be arranged for slid a structure which will avoid any possibility of ing movement relative to said bottom cap. In

snarling or entanglement of the thread on one such event the ears 8 are formed on a transspool with that on adjacent spools. versely adjustable slide 9 which is guided in any 39 Such a holder is particularly useful as a counter suitable guide-way formed on the bottom cap l.

or sales display in that it' admits of the convenient As here shown said guide-way is defined by a assembly and display of a selected range of spools pair of spaced upturned tongues 10 struck up of different gauge or color in a compact and usefrom said bottom cap.

39 ful holder or case which functions both as a ship- The in and out adjustment of the slide 9 is ping container andaservice article, thus adapting permitted and held by a longitudinal slot 11 it for use by dressmakers, housewives and others. formed in said slide within which slot is dis- As such it makes an attractive gift package as posed a bolt 12 set through the cap 4 from bewell as a novel display for stimulating the sale low, and carrying at its inner end a nut 13.

of some particular brand of merchandise. The upper end of the spindle may, if desired,

These objects, together with various other feabe releasably latched to the casing 1. Where tures of advantage which will appear more fully such a latch is considered desirable, the upper hereinafter, are secured in the device of the prescap 3 is provided with a recess 14 adapted snugent invention. 1y to receive the upper end of the spindle, and

40 As illustrative of the principles involved, Ihave with a pivoted catch 15 adapted releasably to shown in the accompanying drawing an embodiengage and clamp said upper end of the spindle merit of my invention which I have found highly within said locking recess. The catch 15 is pivsatisfactory under actual service conditions and oted to the cap 3 at 16, and in order to permit well adapted to the requirements of manufacture. adjustment of the spindle closer to or farther 45 In the drawing: away from the shell, the pivot 16 may be ar- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a spool holder in ranged as a sliding pivot adapted to slide inaccordance with my invention, the pivoted spindle wardly and outwardly in a slot 17 communicaton which the spools are assembled being shown as ing with the locking recess 14. swung out of the protective casing so as to per- The construction permits the spindle to be 50' mit the ready withdrawal of the spools therefrom. positioned and locked closer to or farther away Fig. 2 is a plan view of Fig. l but showing the from the tensioning material 2, according to the spool holding spindle latched within the casing. diameter of the particular spools or bobbins as- Fig. 3 is a face view of the device. sembled on the spindle, the sliding base 9 per- Fig. 4 is a cross-section on the line 4- i of mitting the spindle to move laterally at this end. I

55 Fig. 3, and Either the slidable pivot base 9 or the slidable locking pivot 16 however may be dispensed with if desired, as these are simply features of added utility, the essential features of my invention being the provision of a protective case within which a spindle containing a plurality of spools, bobbins, or the like is normally contained, casing and spindle being constructed and arranged to permit the spindle to be projected into a position wherein the spools thereon may be withdrawn.

Thus, while I have shown the casing as halfround, such shape approximating the curvature of the spools, it is evident that the casing need not have this exact shape, it being sufficient only that the casing have an opening therein of sufficient length and diameter to permit the loaded spindle to be swung therethrough into the position shown in Fig. 1. Obviously such a requirement would be answered by a casing consisting of a pair of relatively rotatable shell sections which when closed would define a completely enclosing casing for the spools and which when opened would afford a space suificient to allow projection of the spindle therethrough into the position of Fig. 1.

Similarly, while most conveniently arranged as a pivot or hinge connection with the bottom cap, the spindle 6 may be connected with the casing by some equivalent mechanical connection which will permit it the desired in-and-out movement relative to the casing. For example, the spindle may be eccentrically mounted on a rotating plate at this end.

These and various other modifications are to be regarded as within the spirit and scope of my invention as defined by the appended claims.

What I therefore claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A holder of the class described, comprising a half-round casing closed at its ends and having an opening extending from end to end thereof and of a size sufficient to permit an assembly of thread-carrying units simultaneously to be swung laterally as a unit through the same, and a spindle pivotally mounted upon the inside face of one of the closed ends of said casing for arcual movement into and out of the opening in said casing, said spindle extending substantially the entire length of said casing and adapted to have loosely threaded thereon in endwise assembly a plurality of thread-carrying units, said spindle normally occupying a position within the casing but movable arcually outwardly through said opening of the easing into an inclined position relative to the casing wherein the threadcarrying units may be withdrawn longitudinally over the free end thereof, and means lining the inner surface of said casing for frictionally holding the thread-carrying units on said spindle against rotation.

2. A holder for an assembly of thread-carrying units, comprising a half-round casing having closed ends, the opening of which casing is substantially coextensive with the half-round wall of said casing, and a spindle pivoted to the inner face of one closed end of said casing and carrying said units in removable endwise assembly thereon, said spindle normally occupying a position substantially axially of the casing but bodily projectable outwardly through the opening of the easing into such angular positions with ref erence thereto that the units thereon may be individually withdrawn longitudinally over the free end thereof, the units when the spindle is disposed in normal position within the casing being substantially enclosed by the casing with a part of the thread thereon substantially in contact with the inner face of the casing wall so as to be restrained from accidental unwinding action and with another part of the thread exposed to view through said opening of the casing.

3. A holder as claimed in claim 2, wherein the pivot for the spindle is mounted on a slide whereby the pivot may be adjusted closer towards or farther away from the opening of the casing to adapt the holder to thread carrying units of different diameters.

4. A holder as claimed in claim 2, wherein the closed end of the casing opposite to the closed end on which the spindle is pivoted is provided with a radial slot in which the free end of the spindle is adapted to be entered and latched.

ETHEL F. RAWLINGS. 

